Positive market breadth

Key benchmark indices trimmed gains after hitting fresh intraday high in early trade. At 10:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 156 points or 0.50% at 31,212.40. The Nifty 50 index was up 40.75 points or 0.43% at 9,628.80. Market was hovering in the green on positive Asian cues.

The Sensex rose 191.29 points, or 0.62% at the day's high of 31,247.69 in early trade, its highest level since 13 June 2017. The index rose 106.95 points, or 0.34% at the day's low of 31,163.35 in early trade. The Nifty rose 50.70 points, or 0.53% at the day's high of 9,638.75 in early trade, its highest level since 13 June 2017. The index rose 26.85 points, or 0.28% at the day's low of 9,614.90 in morning trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.10%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.11%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,154 shares rose and 927 shares fell. A total of 88 shares were unchanged.

Engineering and construction major L&T was up 0.85% to Rs 1,741.35. The construction arm of L&T has won orders worth Rs 2231 crore across various business segments. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 19 June 2017.

Metal shares were in demand. Tata Steel (up 1.63%), Vedanta (up 0.95%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.92%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.87%), JSW Steel (up 0.82%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.75%), NMDC (up 0.58%), Steel Authority of India (up 0.53%), Hindustan Copper (up 0.39%) and National Aluminium Company (up 0.31%), edged higher. Bhushan Steel was down 4.91%.

Meanwhile, copper price edged higher in the global commodities markets. High Grade Copper for July 2017 delivery was currently up 0.37% at $2.5735 per pound on the COMEX.

Most IT shares rose. Persistent Systems (up 1.78%), TCS (up 1.40%), MindTree (up 0.93%), Wipro (up 0.63%), Hexaware Technologies (up 0.50%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.38%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.35%) and HCL Technologies (up 0.21%), edged higher. Infosys (down 0.27%) and MphasiS (down 0.51%), edged lower.

On the domestic economic front, the GST Council on Sunday, 18 June 2017, put a fix to nagging issues and the government put at rest speculation about a possible delay in GST rollout, paving the way for the landmark tax reforms to kick in from 1 July 2017. The government will reportedly let companies to file late returns for the first two months to let them adapt to a new system.

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher as markets geared up ahead of Brexit negotiations between the UK and the European Union, and as French President Emmanuel Macron's party won a parliamentary majority at the weekend.

Britain and the rest of the European Union (EU) go into the negotiations in Brussels later today, 19 June 2017, to decide the status of expats, the UK's 'divorce bill' and the Northern Ireland border, besides other compensatory issues. The UK is set to leave the EU by the end of March 2019.

In US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday, 16 June 2017, notched its 21st record of 2017 led by a late-stage rise in energy shares, as Amazon announced plans to buy Whole Foods. However, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended lower and booked a second-straight weekly loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 24.38 points, or 0.11%, to 21,384.28a new all-time high. The S&P 500 ended less than a point higher at 2,433.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 13.74 points, or 0.2%, to 6,151.76.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News